Method and system of a hierarchical task scheduler for a multi-thread system

ABSTRACT

A method for scheduling tasks from a program executed by a multi-processor core system is disclosed. The method includes a scheduler that groups a plurality of tasks, each having an assigned priority, by priority in a task group. The task group is assembled with other task groups having identical priorities in a task group queue. A hierarchy of task group queues is established based on priority levels of the assigned tasks. Task groups are assigned to one of a plurality of worker threads based on the hierarchy of task group queues. Each of the worker threads is associated with a processor in the multi-processor system. The tasks of the task groups are executed via the worker threads according to the order in the hierarchy.

COPYRIGHT

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialthat is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patentdisclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patentfiles or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rightswhatsoever.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to scheduling tasks in amulti-thread system, and more particularly, to a task scheduler thatorders program tasks in task groups and task group queues for executionby worker threads in a multi-core system.

BACKGROUND

Current processing systems have multiple processing cores to provideparallel processing of computational tasks, which increases the speed ofcompleting such tasks. For example specialized processing chips such asgraphic processing units (GPU) have been employed to perform complexoperations such as rendering graphics. A GPU is understood as aspecialized processing circuit designed to rapidly manipulate and altermemory to accelerate the creation of images in a frame buffer intendedfor output to a display. GPUs may include hundreds if not thousands ofprocessing cores since graphic processing may be massively parallelizedto speed rendering of graphics in real-time. GPUs perform variousgraphic processing functions by performing calculations related to 3Dgraphics. These include accelerating memory-intensive work such astexture mapping and rendering polygons, performing geometriccalculations such as the rotation and translation of vertices intodifferent coordinate systems. GPUs may also support programmable shaderprograms, which can manipulate vertices and textures, oversampling andinterpolation techniques to reduce aliasing, and very high-precisioncolor spaces.

In multi-core systems, it is desirable to perform multi-threading inorder to accomplish parallel processing of programs. Multi-threading isa widespread programming and execution model that allows multiplesoftware threads to exist within the context of a single process. Thesesoftware threads share the resources of the multi-core system, but areable to execute independently. Multi-threading can also be applied to asingle process to enable parallel execution on a multi-core system. Thisadvantage of a multi-threaded program allows it to operate faster oncomputer systems that have multiple CPUs, CPUs with multiple cores, oracross a cluster of machines because the threads of the programnaturally lend themselves to concurrent execution.

A task scheduler is a program or a module of a program that isresponsible for accepting, ordering, and scheduling portions of theprogram to be executed on one or more threads that are executed by thecores in a multi-core system. These portions of a program are typicallyreferred to as tasks. In any multi-thread capable system, scheduling andexecuting tasks requires synchronization. This synchronizationintroduces a serial point that effectively renders a multi-thread systemsingular and the subsequent effect on performance is explained withAmdahl's law. Amdahl's law states that if P is the proportion of aprogram that can be made parallel (i.e., benefit from parallelization),and (1−P) is the proportion that cannot be parallelized (remainsserial), then the maximum speedup that can be achieved by using Nprocessors is S(N)=1/(1−P)+P/N.

Presently, there are three synchronization mechanisms employed bycomputer programs to address ordering or serialization issues that arisewhen using multiple threads to parallelize program execution. The leastexpensive is atomic instructions or operations, which is the leastcostly in regard for the number of CPU cycles required to synchronize anoperation. The second and next expensive mechanism is typically referredto as “lockless,” in which one or more atomic instructions are used tosynchronize data and program operation. The third are mutual exclusion(Mutexes), critical sections, and locks. These mechanisms are typicallyused to guard a region of a program from multiple simultaneous accessfrom multiple threads. Not only are these mechanisms the most expensive,they tend to suffer an additional issue in which if a user or thread ispre-empted in its execution while it owns the lock, it can serialize aprogram for a significant amount of time.

In addition to the cost of the serialization mechanism another factormust also be considered, namely, simultaneous accesses to that specificmechanism. This is typically referred to as “contention” and is directlyrelated to the number of users, tasks, or threads attempting tosynchronize the same portion of a program. Contention issues reduce thespeed of execution because cores must wait for the completion of othertasks by other cores.

Therefore, to maximize the potential of a multi-thread system to run aprogram in parallel, the serial tasks managed by a task scheduler mustbe minimized. In smaller scale multi-thread systems, concurrentexecution is relatively simple. For example, a program with 500-1000tasks on four worker threads (e.g., one thread for graphics, one threadfor artificial intelligence, etc.) will not encounter serious contentionissues. However, as the number of tasks increases from more complexissues and the number of cores increases (e.g., 20,000 tasks on eightcores or more with hyper-threading), contention is a major issue inmaximizing the parallel execution of the program.

The number of CPU cycles required to be executed during thesynchronization is also a consideration. In the case of atomicoperations, the CPU can only serialize a small amount of data (typically4 to 8 bytes) in which the cost may only be the number of CPU cyclesrequire to execute the instruction in addition to the number of cyclesrequired to propagate the data change. However in the case of Mutexesand critical sections, not only is the atomic penalty incurred (sincethey are implemented using atomics), but in addition they are commonlyused to perform much more complex work that cannot be expressed with asingular instruction. This additional complexity of work will incur manymore CPU cycles, which in turn will increase the cost of thesynchronization.

In this way, the overall cost of synchronization or the amount of serialexecution can be described or computed as “TotalCost=SynchronizationMechanism Cost*CPU Cycles*Amount of Contention.” To reduce serializationto a minimum it is therefore required to consider and reduce the totalcost of synchronization.

Thus, there is a need for a task scheduler that minimizes the amount ofserial execution of program tasks in assigning threads to cores forparallel execution in a multi-core system. There is also a need for atask scheduler that organizes tasks in task groups and task groupqueues, which are in turn organized in a hierarchy for assignment toworker threads. There is a further need for a task scheduler thatefficiently uses workers to perform tasks in parallel while minimizinglocks. There is also a need for a task scheduler that minimizes theamount of contention a multi-core system incurs when multiple workerthreads are attempting to acquire the same lock.

SUMMARY

According to one example, a task scheduler for scheduling a plurality oftasks of a program to be executed on one or more worker threads isdisclosed. The task scheduler includes a task group component thatcreates task groups by assigning each of the plurality of tasks to atask group. A task group queue component organizes the task groupsaccording to a predetermined criterion in a task group queue and createsa hierarchy of task group queues. A worker thread pool includes a groupof worker threads each associated with one of a plurality of processorcores. A scheduler logic component assigns the worker threads in theworker thread pool to execute the task group queues according to thehierarchy of task group queues.

Another example is a method for scheduling tasks in a multi-core system.A plurality of tasks, each having an assigned priority, is grouped bypriority in a task group. The task group is assembled with other taskgroups having identical priorities in a task group queue. A hierarchy oftask group queues is established based on priority levels of theassigned tasks. Task groups are assigned to one of a plurality of workerthreads based on the hierarchy of task group queues. Each of the workerthreads is associated with a processor core in the multi-core system.The tasks of the task groups are executed via the worker threadsaccording to the order in the hierarchy.

Another example is a non-transitory, machine readable medium havingstored thereon instructions for scheduling tasks for execution by aplurality of processor cores. The stored instructions comprise machineexecutable code, which, when executed by at least one machine processor,causes the machine processor to group a plurality of tasks, each havingan assigned priority, by priority in a task group. The instructionscause the machine processor to assemble the task group with other taskgroups having identical priorities in a task group queue. Theinstructions cause the machine processor to establish a hierarchy oftask group queues based on priority levels of the assigned tasks. Taskgroups are assigned to one of a plurality of worker threads based on thehierarchy of task group queues. Each of the worker threads is associatedwith a processor core of the plurality of processor cores. Theinstructions cause the machine processor to execute the tasks of thetask groups via the worker threads according to the order in thehierarchy.

Additional aspects of the invention will be apparent to those ofordinary skill in the art in view of the detailed description of variousembodiments, which is made with reference to the drawings, a briefdescription of which is provided below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a multi-core system that includes a taskscheduler and a pool of active worker threads;

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the process of ordering tasks in task groupsand ordering task groups in task group queues;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the process of ordering task groups within atask group queue for scheduling by the task scheduler logic;

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram showing the sequence of assigning workerthreads to tasks in task groups having different priorities in ahierarchy; and

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of the process used to schedule tasks amongmultiple threads in the multi-core system in FIG. 1.

While the invention is susceptible to various modifications andalternative forms, specific embodiments have been shown by way ofexample in the drawings and will be described in detail herein. Itshould be understood, however, that the invention is not intended to belimited to the particular forms disclosed. Rather, the invention is tocover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling withinthe spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 shows a multi-core processing system 100 that includes amulti-core processor 102, an active worker thread pool 104, an inactiveworker thread pool 106, and a task scheduler 108. The multi-coreprocessor 102 may be any device that includes multiple processing coressuch as a multi-core CPU, GPU, and APU.

The multi-core processor 102 executes a program by distributing thetasks in the program among worker threads from the worker thread pool104. The programs executed by the multi-core processor 102 are segmentedinto tasks with different priorities for each task that are assigned bya programmer. The task scheduler 108 reduces serialization of a programand minimizes total processing cost, when scheduling and executing tasksin a program executed by the multi-core processor 102 as will beexplained below. The task scheduler 108 provides a hierarchy of taskgroup queues where task groups are organized according to apredetermined criterion such as priority. The task groups are acollection of tasks from the program and are grouped into task groups.The task group queues allow for ordered access to task groups that havebeen submitted for execution. The task scheduler 108 manages workerthreads in the worker thread pool 104 that are scheduled to executetasks. The task scheduler 108 is responsible for the state of the workerthreads and the logic associated with assignment of the worker threadsto task queues, task groups, and tasks.

In this example, the multi-core processor 102 includes processing cores110, 112, 114, and 116. The processing cores 110, 112, 114, and 116 inthis example each are hyper-threaded and therefore each of the cores110, 112, 114, and 116 may include multiple hardware threads. Thisallows each of the cores 110, 112, 114, and 116 to run multiple softwarethreads simultaneously. In this example, two hardware threads such ashardware threads 120 and 122 are assigned to each of the processingcores 110, 112, 114, and 116. It is to be understood that processingcores of more than two threads may be used or processing cores with asingle thread. It is also to be understood that the multi-core systemsmay include many more cores than the four cores 110, 112, 114, and 116shown in FIG. 1.

As explained above, the task scheduler 108 schedules a plurality oftasks of a program to be executed on one or more worker threads that areeach associated with a core of the multi-core processor 102. The taskscheduler 108 includes a task group component that creates task groupsby assigning each of the plurality of tasks to a task group. The taskscheduler also includes a task group queue component that organizes thetask groups according to a predetermined criterion in a task group queueand creates a hierarchy of task group queues. The task scheduler 108includes scheduler logic 130 that organizes tasks that are assigned toeach logical worker thread in the worker thread pool 104 and thecorresponding hardware thread in a processing core of the multi-coreprocessor 102. As will be explained below, the task scheduler 108 ordersthe tasks in a hierarchy of task group queues for execution by the coresof the multi-core processor 102. In this example, the active worker pool104 includes logical worker threads 140, 142, 144, 146, 148, 150, 152,and 154. Each of the logical worker threads 140, 142, 144, 146, 148,150, 152, and 154 are assigned to one of the hardware threads of theprocessing cores 110, 112, 114, and 116. As will be explained below, thescheduler logic 130 assigns tasks to each of the worker threads 140,142, 144, 146, 148, 150, 152, and 154, which in combination, may executethe tasks of a program in parallel on the corresponding processor cores110, 112, 114, and 116. The inactive worker pool 106 includes workerthreads that do not have a corresponding hardware thread assigned fromthe hardware cores and are therefore inactive. When an active workerthread is finished or idle, worker threads from the inactive worker poolmay be activated and assigned to a hardware thread. In this case, theactive worker thread associated with the hardware thread may bedeactivated and the now activated worker thread would be assigned to theinactive worker pool 106.

In this example, the task scheduler software 108 is run on one of theprocessor cores 110, 112, 114, or 116 to manage the execution of aprogram by the multi-core processor 102. However, the task scheduler 108and corresponding hierarchy of tasks may run on a separate processorsuch as a CPU or an ASIC. The task scheduler instruction set may also betransferred from one core to another of the multi-core processor 102.The scheduler logic 130 of the task scheduler 108 typically is employedby the worker threads to determine tasks to execute. Once worker threadsin the worker pool 104 complete an assigned task, the worker thread willexecute the scheduler logic 130 to determine the next task to beexecuted as will be explained in detail below.

FIG. 2 shows a flow diagram of the process or ordering tasks in taskgroups and ordering task groups in task group queues by the taskscheduler 108. An example task scheduling process 200 is performed bythe task scheduler 108. The task scheduling process 200 includes aseries of task groups 202, which are organized into different task groupqueues 204 by a predetermined criteria such as priority level. In thisexample, the task group queues 204 are organized into a hierarchicaltask group queue 206, which organizes the task group queues 204 intodifferent priority task group queues 210, 212, and 214. In this examplethe priority queue 210 is the highest priority task group queue and thepriority queue 214 is the lowest priority task group queue. The taskgroup queues 204 are all grouped into the priority queues 210, 212, or214 according to priority of a task group. Although there are threelevels of priority in this example, it is to be understood that anynumber of priority levels may be used to organize the task group queues204. The task scheduler process accesses a worker pool 220, whichincludes the available worker threads from the available worker pool 104in FIG. 1. The task scheduler 108 also includes the scheduler logic 130,which is used to organize the order of the tasks for performance byworker threads in the worker pool 220.

The hierarchy 206 of task group queues organizes task group queues suchas the task group queue 204 according to priority. The use of task groupqueues 204 allows for ordered access to task groups that have beensubmitted by the user for execution. The task groups, such as the taskgroup 202, each are a collection of tasks to be executed. The softwarethread pool or worker thread pool 220 is a group of software threadsthat exist and may be scheduled to execute tasks. The task scheduler 108is responsible for managing the state of the software or worker threadsand the scheduler logic 130 is associated with assignment of workerthreads to the task queues, task groups, and tasks within the taskgroups.

These components are utilized together to generate a framework in whicha hierarchy of synchronization may be expressed in which serializationis minimized and ordering of work can be maintained for a multi-coresystem such as the system 100 in FIG. 1. This hierarchy allowsutilization of a layered approach to synchronization in which mechanismswith a much lower cost and complexity may be applied to multi-coresystems such as the multi-core processor 102 in FIG. 1 to allow parallelprocessing. For example, atomic add (Atomic_Add), atomic increment(Atomic_Increment), atomic exchange add (Atomic_Exchange), and atomiccompare and exchange (Atomic_CompareAndExchange) instructions may all beused to coordinate the acquiring of a task without requiring “locking.”These mechanisms may be considered lockless synchronization primitives.An example for a linked list of tasks within a task group is thefollowing:

{ pNextTask = ATOMIC_EXCHANGE(pTaskGroupHead); if(pNextTask = END_VALUE)ExitGroup( ); }

In addition, even if a “lock” technique was used, acquiring a taskwithin a specific group is the only critical consideration and since thescope of work is much smaller, the lock needs to be held for fewerprocessor execution cycles, which results in less opportunity forcontention.

The task group 202 is the lowest level component used within thescheduling hierarchy produced by the process 200 and is designed toallow the user to associate a set of tasks from 1-n from the programwith the task group, which may then be executed by the worker threads.Users may also specify the maximum number of worker threads allowed toexecute tasks within the task group. By altering both the number oftasks in the task group, as well as the maximum number of workerthreads, the user is able to configure a task group which will haveminimal contention.

For example, the expected execution time for a simple task,“AddValueToField( )” may be very small such as 50 cycles. Theperformance of the task by a worker thread through an “AcquireTask( )”command, even if lockless, may be 100 cycles. Therefore the likelihoodof contention being an issue is super linear with regards to the numberof worker threads in the task group, as the worker threads in this groupwill spend more time acquiring tasks then executing them. So in thiscase, instead of having eight worker threads in one task group, it willbe more efficient to have one worker thread assigned to eight taskgroups. The inverse is also true, in that if the task “AddValueToField()” takes several thousand cycles, then the likelihood of contentiondrops dramatically and it will be more efficient to have eight workerthreads in one task group.

In addition, each worker thread has two unique IDs that may be used bythe tasks. The first ID is an Application ID and is guaranteed uniquefor each worker thread in the application. The second is the TaskGroupIDand is guaranteed unique to each worker within a specific task group. Inthis way the user can use either the TaskGroupID, or the ApplicationIDas a key to separating the workload of the task groups. Also the taskgroup itself can be referenced to add more context to the task, whichallows for even finer grained sequence control.

Contention refers to multiple threads trying to access the sameresources, not just locks and synchronization mechanisms. An example ofcontention is if a user has values they would like to sum in thefollowing code.

SumTask( ) { ValueToAdd=GetValue( ); ATOMIC_ADD(&SharedSum, ValueToAdd);}

With a task designed like this example, the more worker threadsexecuting tasks, the more contention will result from executing theinstruction “&SharedSum,” which adds the sum, as only one hardwarethread can write to it at a time. This would be a case of highcontention. The example scheduler 108 resolves this problem by thefollowing instructions.

SumTask( ) { LocalWorkerSumRef = GetLocalWorkerSum(TaskGroupID);ValueToAdd = GetValue( ); LocalWorkerSumRef += ValueToAdd; }

The task scheduler 108 works with two identifiers associated with tasks,TaskGroupID and Application ID. Either the TaskGroupID or ApplicationIDidentifiers, or both, may be used as keys to allow the separation ofdata. The TaskGroupID identifier is unique to the task group, whereasthe ApplicationID identifier is unique to the application. Since thenumber of workers in a task group may be limited, there are fewerTaskGroupIDs to handle and therefore the user may have finer grainedcontrol over how they use the key to reference specific data or useregions of program memory. If the user were to use just theApplicationID of the worker thread, the user would need to handle agreater range of values, which may be less optimal or convenient forthem. This is especially true as the number of possible worker threadsincreases. Hence the TaskGroupID better constrains the problem for theuser.

Users may also specify a signal function that will be called once alltasks have been completed within a group by the last remaining workerthread. This allows for re-entrant task groups, as well as the dynamicbuilding and execution of task group graphs. The signal function is away for the user to specify specific code to be executed once all tasksin a task group have completed. The signal function is only run once percompletion of all tasks in the task group. An example of a signalfunction is shown in the following pseudo-code:

SimpleSignalFunction( ) { bSumValuesTaskGroupComplete=true; }Then somewhere else in the application,

While(!bSumValuesTaskGroupComplete) { DoSomethingElse( ); }

In this example, the value “bSumValuesTaskGroupComplete” assigned by theuser is shared and therefore the scheduler 108 alerts the user when thetasks are complete. Another example is where the user may set up thetask group to be re-entrant or cyclical as shown below.

ReEntrantSignalFunction( ) { AddTaskGroup(ThisTaskGroup); }

The user may also dynamically build a graph or tree of task groups. Fortask groups A, B and C in the below example, when task group A iscomplete, the completion signal “SignalA( )” is sent and task group B isadded. When task group B, the completion signal “SignalB( )” is sent andtask group C is added.

SignalA( ) { AddTaskGroup(TaskGroupB); } SignalB( ) {AddTaskGroup(TaskGroupC); } SignalC( ) { BtaskGroupABCComplete = true; }Or with TaskGroup A,B,C { bTaskGroupAComplete=False;bTaskGroupBComplete=False; AddTaskGroup(TaskGroupA);AddTaskGroup(TaskGroupB); } SignalA( ) { bTaskGroupAComplete = True;if(bTaskGroupBComplete) AddTaskGroup(TaskGroupC); } SignalB( ) {BtaskGroupBComplete = True; if(bTaskGroupAComplete)AddTaskGroup(TaskGroupC); }

In this way task group C may be dynamically added once task groups A andB are both completed. Dependencies like this are representative ofsimple graphs of execution, but more elaborate ones may be constructed.

Due to the ability of task groups to reside in prioritized task groupqueues that can have stricter ordering rules, the amount of datarequired to be synchronized between worker threads executing within thetask group is minimized. This minimization allows for a much less costlysynchronization mechanism to be employed to ensure proper ordering oftasks within the task group. In addition, by aggregating a series oftasks within a group, an additional level or ordering or priority can beconsidered by the task scheduler 108.

The below is an example of pseudo code for a user (programmer) topopulate a task group and add the task group to the task scheduler 108in FIG. 2.

Scheduler::TaskGroup userTaskGroup;

userTaskGroup.AddTask(UserTaskA, TaskPriorityA);

userTaskGroup.AddTask(UserTaskB, TaskPriorityB);

userTaskGroup.AddTask(UserTaskC, TaskPriorityC);

if(user.TaskGroupDesiresSignal( )

userTaskGroup.AddSignal(UserTaskSignal);

In this example, the user task groups A, B, and C have priority levels(TaskPriority) and tasks are added to each user task group based on thepriority levels of the tasks. The task groups in this example include asignal function and thus the user will receive a call back signal toindicate the tasks in the task group are finished executing.

The task group queue 204 is the next level component used within thescheduling hierarchy and is designed to apply another layer of orderingwithin the hierarchy established by task scheduler 108. The task groupqueue 204 is responsible for maintaining application state regarding thenext level of task ordering and functions as an ordered queue such as apriority heap, FIFO, etc. Task group queues also associate stateinformation that is used to determine which worker threads are allowedaccess to a particular task group queue. Prioritization of task groupsmay be determined by any number of user specified factors as may bedictated by the task scheduler 108. For example, in the case of N taskgroup queues, where N is the number of task group queues, the prioritiescould range from highest to lowest with the N task group queues beingassigned to discrete high, medium, and low priority task group queues.To reduce contention between an example four worker threads, all theworker threads may be assigned valid for the highest priority task groupqueue. Half of the worker threads may be assigned valid for the mediumpriority task group queue. Only one worker thread may be assigned validfor the lowest priority task group queue. In this way the worker threadsdistribute themselves to make it less likely any one of them will fightover a particular task group queue. If contention is detected whileacquiring a task group queue, a worker thread may move to anotherassociated queue. Instead of different priority levels to arrange thetask group queues, other criteria—such as immediate, frame, andbackground status—may be used for the task group queue breakdown. Inthis case, tasks having the immediate status could always be checked,tasks having frame status are inspected once per frame, and tasks havingbackground status are inspected once every second.

FIG. 3 is an example diagram 300 of a FIFO task group queue such as thetask group queue 204 in FIG. 2 where task groups that are placed into atask group queue first are operated on by worker threads first, withtask groups added afterwards being operated on by worker threads inorder of their addition to the task group queue 204. FIG. 3 shows anexample task group queue 204 in FIG. 2 that has organized task groups byfirst in first out (FIFO). The scheduler logic 130 controls a pluralityof worker threads including worker threads 310, 312, 314, and 316. Thetasks have been organized into task groups 320, 322, 324, 326, and 328.Each of the task groups such as the task group 320 includes a series ofuser tasks that are ordered according to the designation in the programwritten by the user. At the conclusion of the last user task in a taskgroup, such as the task group 320, a user end signal is encountered thatallows the task group queue 300 to proceed to the next task group suchas the task group 322.

The task group queue hierarchy is the last level of ordering andorganization utilized that allows the user and the task scheduler 108 toreduce contention when assigning task group queues to the availableworker threads. When a task group is added, its priority level isconsidered and the task group is then assigned an appropriate task groupqueue based on that priority. In an application, task groups tend tospan more than one priority level, and therefore the priority assignmentallows for a reduction in queue contention and therefore total cost.Contention at this level can be considered to be reduced at a maximum by1/(Number of Total Priorities).

The scheduler logic 130 is aware of these priorities and mayappropriately assign worker threads based on the current state of thetask group queues, the worker threads, and the scheduler state itself.Priority levels for task group queues need not be fixed. The prioritylevels may change. For example the priority level could be decreased ifthe task group queue is idle or empty for a specified period of time.The priority may be increased if a task group with a significantworkload is recently added to a task group queue, or a significantnumber of task groups are added to a specific task group queue, or ifthe number of outstanding task groups in a task group queue becomessignificant, or if the program itself changes state (e.g., frombackground to foreground or to minimized). Another example is if someapplication specific state such as “Paused,” or “Asset Loading,” or“Multi-Player Enabled” in a game application occurs. To that extent,even the number of players in a game might be used to re-prioritize thequeues. The priority may be changed based on the current history sinceit is unlikely that there will be future work, or if a task group queuehas not been used, the task group queue could be elevated in priority toservice the tasks in the task group queues. Thus, if certain task groupqueues are underutilized, they may be reprioritized to a higher level sothat contention by the worker threads on the task group queues that arecurrently used is reduced. For example, if task groups are always addedto the highest priority task group queue, more contention may occur onthat task group queue. If the medium priority task group queue isremapped to the highest priority, then worker threads may beredistributed more evenly between task group queues.

A user does not typically need to interact directly with the task groupqueues or the task group queue hierarchy as it is automaticallyperformed by the task scheduler 108. Alternatively, a user mayreprioritize queues or assign worker threads via a simple API callprovided by the task scheduler 108, which allows a user to rearrange thequeues for assignment to worker threads. This feature may be used whenthe user is doing something “unexpected” with the system and the currentscheduler logic is conflicting with the user's wishes. It may also beused to augment the logic so that the users may tweak performance/reducecontention when the user is going out of the typical expected bounds ofthe program.

FIG. 4 shows an example hierarchy 400 of task group queues in relationto scheduling and assignment to worker threads in a worker pool such asthe worker pool 104 in FIG. 1. The hierarchy 400 is used to assign thetasks to one of nine different task groups 410, 412, 414, 416, 418, 420,422, 424, and 426 in this example. It is to be understood that thehierarchy may include any number of tasks assigned to any number ofdifferent task groups. As explained above, the nine different taskgroups 410, 412, 414, 416, 418, 420, 422, 424, and 426 are prioritizedinto three levels of priority in this example. Thus a task group queue430 is assigned the highest priority and assigned task groups 410, 412,414, and 416. A second task group queue 432 is assigned medium priorityand assigned task groups 418, 420, and 422. A third task group queue 434is assigned low priority and assigned task groups 424 and 426.

The scheduler logic 130 in this example manages a worker pool 440 thatincludes four worker threads 442, 444, 446, and 448. The task grouphierarchy 400 arranges the task groups 410, 412, 414, 416, 418, 420,422, 424, and 426 in the task group queues 430, 432, and 434. The taskgroup hierarchy 400 then acquires a task group queue that in thisexample is the highest priority task group queue 430. After the taskgroup queue 430 is acquired, a task group in the task group queue 430 isacquired such as the task group 410. The scheduler logic 130 thenassigns an available worker thread from the worker pool 440 to performthe acquired task from the acquired task group. This process continuesuntil all of the task groups in the task group queue 430 have beenassigned a worker thread in the worker pool.

After completion of assigning the task groups of the first task groupqueue 430 to worker threads, the hierarchy 400 of the scheduler 108 thenacquires the second task group queue 432. After the task group queue 432is acquired, a task group in the second task group queue 432 is acquiredsuch as the task group 416. The scheduler 108 then assigns an availableworker thread from the worker pool 440 to perform the tasks from theacquired task group. This process continues until all of the task groupsin the task group queue 432 have been assigned a worker thread in theworker pool 440. The scheduler 108 may consider factors such as theavailability of worker threads, the completion time of previouslyassigned workers, the priority of the tasks, avoiding contention, sizeof the queue or number of outstanding task groups in a task group queue,the period or frequency at which task groups are added to task groupqueues, the application state (e.g., foreground, background, minimized,paused), and status of worker threads (e.g., paused, waiting for signal,etc.) in order to assign the worker threads.

The following is example code for a user adding a task group to thescheduler as a basis for the user task group. To add a task group to bescheduled, a typical user will call an interface function from thescheduler such as using the command “AddTaskGroup( ).” In this examplethe scheduler logic 130 acquires a user task group reading the prioritylevel and the maximum number of worker threads assigned to the taskgroup.

-   -   Scheduler::AddTaskGroup(userTaskGroup, UserGroupPriorityLevel,        MaximumNumWorkers);        The task scheduler 108 will implement such a function as        follows.

Scheduler::AddTaskGroup(TaskGroupReference, TaskGroupPriorityLevel,MaxWorkers) { taskGroupQueue =SchedulerHierarchy::SynchronziedAcquireQueue(TaskGroupPriorityLevel);Scheduler::SynchronziedAddToTaskGroupQueue(taskGroupQueue,TaskGroupReference, Max Workers); if(WorkerPool.UseWakeSignal( ))::Scheduler::SignalWorkersWorkAdded( ); }The task scheduler 108 thus will signal the worker thread assigned thatwork has been assigned and activate the worker thread to begin toperform the added task. The number of worker threads is set in order tomatch the number of hardware threads or to minimize contention.

The worker thread pool or software thread pool 104 is responsible forproviding a set of worker threads that map directly or indirectly to theunderlying system hardware threads. For example, in FIG. 1, the workers140-154 in the worker pool 104 are mapped directly to the hardwarethreads associated with one of the processing cores 110, 112, 114, and116. These worker threads are coordinated by the scheduler logic 130 andare used to execute the user tasks that have been stored within the taskgroups in the hierarchy 400 shown in FIG. 4. The number of workerthreads need not be fixed and may even vary throughout the execution ofthe program. Worker threads are typically generated during theinitialization of the task scheduler 108 by interacting with systemkernel functions such as “CreateThread( ).” A worker thread pool isgenerally populated with one worker thread per logical CPU core oravailable hardware thread. However the application can choose torestrict the maximum number of working threads to any amount it chooses.This can be necessary if the number of logical CPU cores is more thanthe application expected, or if additional threads are created outsideof the task scheduler 108 and these may contend with the worker threadsmanaged by the task scheduler 108. Additional worker threads may becreated that work as “reserve” or alternate worker threads. In the casewhere a worker thread may need to block or wait on a signal, it candefer execution and allow another worker thread from the pool to takeits place executing on the associated core of the CPU. In this way thecores can be constantly executing user code. Additional worker threadsmay be created as needed instead of all workers being created by theinitialization command “(Init( )),” such as the case where one workerthread defers execution and therefore another worker thread may beassigned to the hardware thread until a signal is received that theexecution can continue.

Worker threads have an associated program state that is tracked and usedto allow for efficient scheduling by the task scheduler 108 for taskgroups in the hierarchy. This associated state includes signal objects,time worked or work per task group queue, unique worker identifiers,time in worker state, and worker state. For example, the task scheduler108 may determine scheduling of lower priority task groups for a workerthread currently executing tasks in a higher priority task group basedon the time the worker thread completes the current task group.

The scheduler logic 130 is responsible for aggregating state data fromthe scheduler 108, worker threads and worker pool 104, task group queuehierarchy, the individual task group queues, and the task groupsthemselves. Using this data, the task scheduler 108 can locate andassign workers to task groups, and the individual tasks themselves. Thescheduler logic 130 for an active worker can best be expressed andunderstood at a high level as follows.

A first section of pseudo code below represents the logic each workerthread runs when it is active and looking for a task group to work on.The code looks at the workload done and will decide which task queue theworker thread will go to next. If worker thread has been running low, itrelinquishes work back to the task scheduler 108 for reassignment. Sinceeach worker thread has a state associated with it, the command,“ComputeElapsedWorkload( ),” is used to determine if the worker threadshould relax, back off, or suspend execution. The command “Suspend( )time” and type depend on the state associated with the worker thread.The reason for the suspend is so that other worker threads assigned toother applications, or other worker threads within the application, butnot associated with the task scheduler 108, are given a chance to run.Allowing them to run at this point gives a chance to avoid a contextswitch during task group execution, which can stall a worker thread andproduce sub-optimal runtimes. Because adding and removing from a taskgroup queue happen on multiple worker threads, serializing access to thetask group queue is necessary to maintain order. Based on the currentassociated state of the worker thread and the state of the taskscheduler 108, the command “CalcCurrentQueuePriority( )” determineswhich task group queue to attempt to synchronize the worker threadacquisition to.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////Scheduler::Worker::Work(WorkLoadThreshold) { While (Worker::ComputeElapsedWorkload( ) < WorkLoadThreshold) {CurrentTaskGroupQueue =Scheduler::AcquireQueue(Worker::CalcCurrentQueuePriority( ));CurrentTaskGroup=::Worker::SynchronizedAssignToTaskGroup(CurrentTaskGroupQueue);if(CurrentTaskGroup) ::Worker::AcquireAndExecuteTasks(CurrentTaskGroup);} Worker::Suspend( ); }

A second example of pseudo code below represents a situation if thespecified maximum worker threads for a task group has been reached.Therefore, the task scheduler 108 must look for another group of workerthreads to execute the additional tasks. Since no more worker threadsare allowed in the task group, the task group is removed from the taskgroup queue, and the worker thread looks for another task group to workon.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////::Worker::SynchronizedAssignToTaskGroup(TaskGroupQueue) { nextTaskGroup= TaskGroupQueue::SynchronizedAcquireNextGroup( ); if(!nextTaskGroup)return 0; AssignmentCode = ::Worker::AssignToTaskGroup(nextTaskGroup);if(AssignmentCode == GROUP_FULL) {::Worker::SynchronizedRemoveGroupFromQueue(TaskGroupQueue,nextTaskGroup); return 0; else if(AssignmentCode == ASSIGNED) {::Worker::SynchronizedReleaseGroupFromQueue(TaskGroupQueue,nextTaskGroup); return nextTaskGroup; }::Worker::SynchronizedReleaseGroupFromQueue(TaskGroupQueue,nextTaskGroup); return 0; }

A third example of pseudo code below represents an indication that theworker thread is finished and is seeking to acquire the next task. Thecode allows synchronization with other worker threads working on thetask group. Since the task group has already been created, the amount ofwork for performing the tasks is much smaller due to the assignedpriority of the created task group than if all the data is aggregatedinto one large non-hierarchical task group. If no tasks are left thenthe worker thread signals it is finished. This needs to be synchronizedas multiple worker threads may be working on the task groupsimultaneously yet only one should be allowed to execute the signalfunction associated with the task group. It also needs to besynchronized since the task group may need to be removed from its taskgroup queue. The “SynchronizedAcquireNextTask( )” command may beimplemented purely with atomic instructions that do not require acompare (such as an “ATOMIC_COMPARE_EXCHANGE( )” command). This is veryfast for a processor and results in very little contention. The“SynchronizedExitTaskGroup( )” command is more heavyweight as it willneed to somehow acquire exclusive access to the queue. At the very leastthis will require an “ATOMIC_COMPARE_EXCHANGE( )” command or multipleother atomic operations in an ordered fashion. This can be very slow, isprone to contention, and the worker thread has a context switch and willresult in a stall. The need for using this command for a heavy weightlock is reduced.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////::Worker:: AcquireAndExecuteTasks(TaskGroup) { nextTask =::SynchronizedAcquireNextTask(TaskGroup); if(!nextTask) { exit_code =::SynchronizedExitTaskGroup(TaskGroup); if(exit_code == END &&TaskGroup::HasEndSignal( )) ::WorkerExecuteSignal(TaskGroup); return; }::WorkerExecuteTask(nextTask); }

The task scheduler 108 therefore determines the worker work loadthreshold and compares the current task group queue and then determineswhether to assign a worker thread to the current tasks in the taskgroup. The task scheduler 108 continues to the next task group anddetermines whether the tasks have been assigned. If the tasks have beenassigned, the worker thread will be assigned tasks from the next taskgroup. The above pseudo code example demonstrates how the task scheduler108 can reduce the total cost of synchronization. Due to the hierarchy,task groups can be ordered using less costly synchronization primitivesthan if the entirety was synchronized with locks that only took onelevel of ordering into account.

The different levels created from assigning different priority levels todifferent task group queues allows lockless operating of tasks of acertain priority queue. In addition, not all task group queues need tobe implemented in the same way. This allows customizing the lock basedon the expected usage. For example, a low level queue that only allowsone worker thread at a time may maintain a very simple lockingmechanism. Also, adding tasks simply involves assigning the task to theappropriate priority level task group preventing the necessity ofreorganizing the hierarchy. The task scheduler 108 does not have to goin the same order for every worker thread allowing flexibility inscheduling the worker threads for tasks of different priorities.

Since a lock around each task queue increases serial time for executingprograms, the hierarchy allows distribution of locks, which results inless contentious hierarchy of locks. This decreases the amount of timefor the lock, and allows synchronization between task groups thereforpreventing stalling, which may effectively serialize the program.Distribution also distributes the memory needed to decrease contention,and therefore have only one memory associated with the core. Contentionhappens when multiple hardware threads or processor cores want tooperate on the same piece of program memory. Only one hardware threadcan operate on a specific piece of memory at a time. Processorsgenerally do not have a sharing mechanism that orders access fairly. Byhaving each queue maintain a separate lock, the likelihood that twoworker threads will try to operate on the same lock is reduced. In thisway they are less likely to stall each other and the program willoperate faster.

The creation of a hierarchy of tasks provides an efficient method oftask scheduling for use in multi-core systems that provide the facilityto operate on multiple threads. Using a hierarchy to order the executionof task groups by assignment of workers allows the use of simple lockingmechanisms in order to minimize serialization in executing the taskgroups by the multi-core system.

The process of scheduling worker threads for tasks may be controlled onthe example system 100 will now be described with reference to FIGS. 1-4in conjunction with the flow diagram shown in FIG. 5. The flow diagramin FIG. 5 is representative of example machine readable instructions forscheduling tasks for worker threads associated with a multi-core system.In this example, the machine readable instructions comprise an algorithmfor execution by: (a) a processor, (b) a controller, and/or (c) one ormore other suitable processing device(s) such as a GPU. The algorithmmay be embodied in software stored on tangible media such as, forexample, a flash memory, a CD-ROM, a floppy disk, a hard drive, adigital video (versatile) disk (DVD), or other memory devices, butpersons of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate that theentire algorithm and/or parts thereof could alternatively be executed bya device other than a processor and/or embodied in firmware or dedicatedhardware in a well-known manner (e.g., it may be implemented by anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logicdevice (PLD), a field programmable logic device (FPLD), a fieldprogrammable gate array (FPGA), discrete logic, etc.). For example, anyor all of the components of the interfaces could be implemented bysoftware, hardware, and/or firmware. Also, some or all of the machinereadable instructions represented by the flowchart of FIG. 5 may beimplemented manually. Further, although the example algorithm isdescribed with reference to the flowcharts illustrated in FIG. 5,persons of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate that manyother methods of implementing the example machine readable instructionsmay alternatively be used. For example, the order of execution of theblocks may be changed, and/or some of the blocks described may bechanged, eliminated, or combined.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of process executed by the task scheduler 108to schedule tasks for a computer program for execution on the multi-coreprocessor 102 in FIG. 1. The task scheduler 108 first obtains theparameters of the system (500) such as the number of active processorcores, the hardware characteristics, the available worker threads, etc.The task scheduler 108 reads the program to be executed and collects thetasks in the program (502). The task scheduler 108 then creates taskgroups based on the priority of tasks from the program (504). The taskgroups are then assigned to task group queues, which are ordered by thetask scheduler 108 (506). The task group queues are grouped according topriority to establish a hierarchy of task group queues (508).

The task scheduler 108 then begins with the highest priority group oftask group queues and determines the priority and the maximum of workerthreads to be assigned (510). The task scheduler 108 then determineswhether there are available worker threads in the worker pool (512). Ifthere is an idle worker thread, the task scheduler 108 assigns the tasksin the first task group to the worker thread (514). The scheduler 108then determines whether all worker thread end conditions are met, whichindicates no remaining task groups to be assigned (516). If there areremaining task groups indicated by worker thread end conditions notbeing met, the scheduler returns to determine the priority of the nexttask group to be assigned (510) and the task scheduler 108 continues toassign task groups to the available worker threads. If there are noremaining task groups, the task scheduler 108 is finished with thescheduling process.

If there are no available worker threads, the task scheduler 108proceeds to determine the next available worker thread and assigns theworker thread for future execution of the task group (518). The taskscheduler 108 continues to assign all of the task group queues in theorder of the hierarchy until all the task groups are assigned to aworker thread for execution.

Each of these embodiments and obvious variations thereof is contemplatedas falling within the spirit and scope of the claimed invention, whichis set forth in the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A task scheduler for a scheduling a plurality oftasks of a program to be executed on one or more worker threads, thetask scheduler comprising: a task group component that creates taskgroups by assigning each of the plurality of tasks to a task group; atask group queue component that organizes the task groups according to apredetermined criteria in a task group queue and creates a hierarchy oftask group queues; a worker thread pool including a group of workerthreads each associated with one of a plurality of processor cores; anda scheduler logic component that assigns the worker threads in theworker thread pool to execute the task group queues according to thehierarchy of task group queues.
 2. The task scheduler of claim 1,wherein each processor core associated with a worker thread ishyper-threaded.
 3. The task scheduler of claim 1, wherein the criteriafor assigning a worker thread by the scheduler includes a maximum numberof worker threads assigned to the task group.
 4. The task scheduler ofclaim 1, wherein a user may select the number of tasks in the task groupand the maximum number of worker threads to perform the task group. 5.The task scheduler of claim 1, wherein the worker threads each includean associated program state including data relating to assigned tasks tothe worker thread by the task scheduler.
 6. The task scheduler of claim1, wherein the task group component determines placement of tasks in atask group by priority level.
 7. The task scheduler of claim 6, whereineach task includes a priority level and a signal indicating thecompletion of the task.
 8. The task scheduler of claim 6, wherein thescheduler logic component can change the priority of a task group queuebased on the status of the execution of task groups by the workerthreads.
 9. The task scheduler of claim 1, wherein the task schedulerassigns an additional task group queue to a worker thread when a firsttask group queue is completed by the worker thread.
 10. A method forscheduling tasks in a multi-core system, the method comprising: groupinga plurality of tasks, each having an assigned priority, by priority in atask group; assembling the task group with other task groups havingidentical priorities in a task group queue; establishing a hierarchy oftask group queues based on priority levels of the assigned tasks;assigning task groups to one of a plurality of worker threads based onthe hierarchy of task group queues, wherein each of the worker threadsis associated with a processor core in the multi-core system; andexecuting the tasks of the task groups via the worker threads accordingto the order in the hierarchy.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein eachprocessor core associated with a worker thread is hyper-threaded. 12.The method of claim 10, wherein the criteria for assigning a workerthread includes a maximum number of worker threads assigned to the taskgroup.
 13. The method of claim 10, wherein a number of tasks in the taskgroup and the maximum number of worker threads to perform the task groupis selected by a user.
 14. The method of claim 10, wherein the workerthreads each include an associated program state including data relatingto assigned tasks to the worker thread.
 15. The method of claim 10,wherein each task includes a priority level and a signal indicating thecompletion of the task.
 16. The method of claim 10, further comprisingchanging the priority of a task group queue based on the status of theexecution of task groups by the worker threads.
 17. The method of claim10, further comprising assigning an additional task group queue to aworker thread when a first task group queue is completed by the workerthread.
 18. A non-transitory, machine readable medium having storedthereon instructions for scheduling tasks for execution by a pluralityof processor cores, the stored instructions comprising machineexecutable code, which when executed by at least one machine processor,causes the machine processor to: group a plurality of tasks, each havingan assigned priority, by priority in a task group; assemble the taskgroup with other task groups having identical priorities in a task groupqueue; establish a hierarchy of task group queues based on prioritylevels of the assigned tasks; assign task groups to one of a pluralityof worker threads based on the hierarchy of task group queues, whereineach of the worker threads is associated with a processor core of theplurality of processor cores; and execute the tasks of the task groupsvia the worker threads according to the order in the hierarchy.